1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit card and, more particularly, to an integrated circuit card made by surface mount technology, not wire bonding.
2. Related Prior Art
Referring to FIGS. 9 through 12, there is shown a conventional integrated circuit (“IC”) card 500. The IC card 500 includes a substrate 50, a semiconductor die 60, wires 70 and a package 80.
Referring to FIG. 9, the substrate 50 is a laminate including a core board 51 and a conductive layer 53. The core board 51 includes an upper side 511 and a lower side 512. Apertures 52 are defined in the core board 51. The conductive layer 53 is coated on the lower side 512 of the core board 51. Regions of an upper side of the conductive layer 53 are exposed through the apertures 52. A metal finish 55 is coated on each of these regions of the upper side of the conductive layer 53. One of the metal finishes 55 is used as a die-mount pad 55a. The other metal finishes 55 are used as bonding pads 55a. A metal finish 56 is coated on a lower side of the conductive layer 53. Apertures 54 are defined in the conductive layer 53 and the metal finish 56.
Referring to FIG. 10, the semiconductor die 60 is provided on the die-mount pad 55a via adhesive 6.
Referring to FIG. 11, ball pads 61 are provided on an active side of the semiconductor die 60. Each of the ball pads 61 is connected to a related one of the bonding pads 55b through a related one of the wires 70.
Referring to FIG. 12, the package 80 is provided on the upper side 511 of the core board 51 and the bonding pads 55b to seal the semiconductor die 60 and the wires 70. Thus, the conventional IC card 500 is made. The substrate 50 is however expensive since it is made in a proprietary process.
To overcome the foregoing problem, there has been developed a process for making another conventional IC card from a laminate instead of the substrate 50. In the laminate, a circuit provided on a metal layer is connected to a circuit provided on another metal layer by electroplating. Therefore, the laminate is still expensive.
The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in prior art.